Polk County man charged with lying to FBI about interactions with Trump, Bush

Court documents say a Polk County man, who is being investigated for possible fraud, lied to the FBI about having phone and in-person interactions with President Donald Trump and former President George Bush.

James C. Parker, 57, was charged last week with willfully and knowingly making materially false statements in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the U.S. government.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, a man came to authorities in April to report that Parker had possibly been defrauding the man's father.

Parker allegedly claimed he needed money to pay various fines and expenses related to the release of a substantial inheritance Parker was trying to secure from the U.S. government after his wealthy relative died and left him money at a bank in Africa.

The complaint says the victim paid Parker more than $130,000 to help Parker secure that alleged inheritance.

Court documents say the victim was a vulnerable target since he had recently suffered a serious work accident that left him with reduced mental faculties and he was relying on "faith healing" rather than hospital care.

FBI agents went to interview Parker in May, and Parker allegedly told agents he was due a refund of $22.5 million from the federal government related to the inheritance.

The complaint says Parker told the agents he had met with former Attorney General Eric Holder, former President George Bush (who gave him a Lincoln Navigator) and exchanged calls and texts with President Trump about how to go about securing his money.

It's unclear from publicly available court documents to what degree Parker was being scammed by someone into believing the government was holding a large sum of his money.

Parker is being held in the Greene County Jail and is due for a court appearance on Wednesday. His attorney did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment for this report.